Other People / Other Places In Recent (2003-2004) Children’s
Book Award Winners / Contenders From Five English Speaking Countries

Ira E. Aaron and Sylvia M. Hutchinson

Readers of all ages can travel the
world over by reading good books. Books entertain; they inform; they
inspire. Books can reflect the present; they can transport readers back in
time; they can take readers into the fictional future; and they can carry young
and old readers into fantasy land. On these trips by “book,” readers meet
all kinds of people, many like themselves and some who are different.

This presentation centers around the two most recent years (2003-2004) of
winners of and contenders for selected children’s book awards from five mainly
English speaking countries: Australia, Canada, Great Britain, New Zealand, and
the United States. The focus is mainly on people and places reflected in
the books. Brief attention will also be given to humor, one of several
characteristics common to books from all five countries.

Though this report involves books
in which awards were announced in 2003 and 2004, it is part of a larger study
covering 24 years, back to awards announced in 1981. This presentation is
a part of the American Reading Forum’s 25th anniversary. The
presenters’ collection does include the winners of the awards for 1980, but they
were never included in the study; they were added to the collection after the
study was well underway.

This report is the seventh about parts of the total study that have been given
at annual meetings of the American Reading Forum. Summaries of the
previous presentations, all included in yearbooks of the American Reading Forum,
are the following:

Aaron, I. E., & Hutchinson, S.M. (2003). Most
recent (2002) contenders for and winners of children’s book awards in five
English-speaking countries. In W. Trathen (Ed.) Reading at the
Crossroads: Yearbook of the American Reading Forum, XXIII.

The two presenters began collecting award winners only from the five countries
in 1986, 19 years ago. They collected winners back an additional five years, to
1981. In each of the earlier years through 1991, approximately 10 to 12
winning titles were added to the collection. In 1992, 13 years ago, all
contenders (finalists) as well as winners were collected, accounting for up to
as many as 75 to 80 titles each year. The 2003-2004 books of concern in this
report total 154. It should be noted that Great Britain’s award dates are
those in which the books were originally published; the remaining four countries
list the year in which the awards were given, one year after publication.

The Awards,
Announcement Dates, and Sources of Books

The Awards

The selected award categories and the sponsoring organizations are the
following:

The collection began with Caldecott and Newbery Medals of the American Library

Association. The selected award categories from the four
non-U.S. countries were those the two presenters concluded were most like those
of the United States awards.

Library associations administer the awards in Canada (CLA) and in the United
States (ALA). The Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA), which includes
librarians, handles the Australia awards. The awards in Great Britain are given
by CILIP, a recent merger of librarians and information professionals. New
Zealand’s awards are administered by LIANZA, which also includes both librarians
and information specialists.

All five countries have awards for illustration and for quality of literature.
Australia has two in-between categories (A2-Elementary Readers, A3- Younger
Readers). The A2-Elementary

Reader’s titles were considered as illustration and the
A3-Younger Reader’s books as quality of literature. Throughout the rest of this
report, the letters and numbers in the above listing of awards (as A1, A2, C1)
will be used to identify award categories

Announcement Dates

Award announcement dates vary some from year to year and from country to
country. All countries except the United States announce shortlists, usually
from approximately four to as many as 10 titles for each award, depending upon
the country, several weeks to several months before winners are selected from
the shortlisted books. The United States announces winners and honor books at
the winter meeting of the American Library Association. Announcement dates for
2004 are given in Figure 1.

Figure 1. 2004 Announcement Dates for Shortlists and
Winners

ShortlistsWinners

Australia
April
6
August 20

Canada April
12
June 9

Great
Britain
April
30
July 9

New
Zealand
August
9
September 14

United
States
---
January 12

Sources of Books

Figure 2 lists the sources used in 2003 and 2004 for obtaining books. A single
bookstore in each of the four non-U.S. countries serves as the source for the
shortlisted books. Several local bookstores are used to obtain the United States
titles and those non-U.S. titles available in the United States.

Figure 2. Sources of Books

Australia: Angus & Robertson Bookworld, Melbourne

Canada: Mabel’s Fables, Toronto

Great Britain: Harrods, London

New Zealand: Children’s Bookshop, Auckland (Ponsonby)

United States: Local bookstores

Availability of
Non-U.S. Titles in the United States

When the study began in 1986, very few of the non-U.S. titles were available in
the United States. The situation is quite different today, as may be noted
in the table below. Almost all (90%/93%) of the Canadian and the British books
are published or distributed in the United States. One-half (48%) of the
Australia titles are available in the United States. Only one of 20 (5%) of the
New Zealand titles is published or distributed in the United States. It should
be noted, however, that if New Zealand’s Margaret Mahy writes a children’s book,
it will likely be marketed in the United States very soon thereafter. The one in
20 titles is Mahy’s Alchemy, shortlisted in 2003 for New Zealand’s Esther
Glen Medal.

Table 1. Available (Published or Distributed) in the
United States (2003-2004)

IllustrationQual. of
LiteratureTotal

Australia 9 of 24
(38%)
14 of 24 (58%)
23 of 48 (48%)

Canada 20 of 20
(100%) 16 of 20
(80%)
36 of 40 (90%)

Great Britain 15 of 16
(94%)
12 of 13 (92%)
27 of 29 (93%)

New Zealand 0 of 10
-
1 of 10
(10%) 1 of 20 (5%)

44 of 70 (63%)
43 of 67 (64%)
87 of 137 (64%)

Other People
(Diversity)

A sampling of titles from 2003 and 2004 winners and contenders is
presented below. Most of these examples center around minorities; however,
within a given race, social or ethnic group, diversity exists (as different
economic levels and rural versus city dwellers).

A1 (2003) In Flanders Fields (Allies/Germans)

A3 (2003) The Barrumbi Kids (Aborigine/Whites)

A4 (2004) Njunjul the Sun (Aborigine/Whites)

A4 (2004) Saving Francesca (Italian/Australian)

C1 (2003) Solomon’s Tree (Canadian/Indian)

C1 (2004) Suki’s Kimono (Japanese/Canadian)

C2 (2003) Hana’s Suitcase (Japanese/Czech/Jews)

G2 (2003) The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time (Autistic
boy)

G2 (2003) The Garbage King (Ethiopians)

N1 (2003) The Immigrants (Maori/Australian Whites)

N1 (2004) Oh Hogwash! Sweet Pea (Maori)

N2 (2003) Taming the Taniwha (Maori)

U1 (2004) The Man Who Walked Between the Towers (French/Americans)

U2 (2004) An American Plague (African American/Whites)

Readers meet Aborigines in Australian books; Indians and Japanese Canadians in
Canadian Books; Maoris in New Zealand titles; Irish and Scottish people in
British books; and African Americans, Latin Americans, and Asian Americans in
the United States books. These are just examples of the many people young
readers meet as they read these books. Mary titles also focus on the majority
populations in the countries. Across countries and groups, it may amaze young
readers to learn that people are so much alike, regardless of where they live.

Other Places

Books can take readers on trips to other places. Settings for the titles from
five countries often are in the country in which the books were first published.
However, occasional settings are in other countries, as may be noted in the
titles in the samples listed below.

A1 (2003)
In Flanders Fields (Flanders)

A1 (2004) Two Summers (Rural Australia)

A2 (2004) Little Humpty (Australian outback)

A3 (2003 The Barrumbi Kids (Australian outback)

A4 (2004) How to Make a Bird (Melbourne)

C1 (2003) The ArtRoom(Northwest Canada)

C1 (2004) Ode to Newfoundland (Newfoundland)

C2 (2004) Hana’s Suitcase (Japan/Austria/Canada)

C2 (2004) Last Days of Africville (Halifax)

G1 (2003) The Shape Game (London)

G2 (2002) The Edge (England)

N1 (2003) The Immigrants (New Zealand/Australia)

N2 (2004) Jacko Moran Sniper (Flanders/New Zealand)

N2 (2004) Thunder Road(Auckland)

U2 (2003) Hoot (Florida)

Commonalities Across
Countries

Common elements (such as settings, characteristics, and themes) can be seen in
books from all five countries. Winners and finalists across countries have
stories involving humor, bullies, good family relations, dysfunctional families,
prejudice, and war. The titles listed below all contain examples of humor,
to illustrate one of the elements common across countries. Some of these
books will bring smiles to the faces of young readers; others will make them
laugh out loud. People laugh - and cry - in a universal language.

A1 (2003) Diary of a Wombat

A2 (2004) Snap! Went Chester

A3 (2003) Horrendo’s Curse

A3 (2004) TruckDogs: A Novel in Four Bites

C1 (2004) Stanley’s Party

C1 (2004) This Is the Dog

G1 (2002) Albert Le Blanc

G1 (2003) The Pea and the Princess

G1 (2003) Ella’s Big Chance

N1 (2004) Oh Hogwash Sweet Pea!

N1 (2004) Napoleon and the Chicken Farmer

U1 (2003) My Friend Rabbit

U1 (2004) Ella Sue Gets Dressed

U2 (2003) Hoot

Brief Reviews of
Selected Titles

As examples, 13 of the illustrated and 12 of the quality of
literature books are reviewed in brief form below. For each book, the
literary type or genre is given, and when available, the interest level in terms
of grades is included in parentheses. These 25 titles are given as
examples from the total collection for the two years, mainly to reflect people,
places, and humor. An asterisk (*) to the left of an author/ illustrator
name indicates that the book is a winner. Others were finalists (shortlisted or
Honor Books).

A1 (2004) Libby Gleeson/ Ann James (ill.)
Shutting the Chooks In. Scholastic Australia. The story, told in
lyrical text and appealing, dreamlike illustrations done in charcoal and oil
pastels, is about a young boy whose job is to round up the chooks before
nightfall and to feed them. When he discovers that one chook is missing,
he goes back to find the stray. (Also shortlisted for Book of the
Year: Early Childhood.) (Verse)

*A2 (2003) Penny Matthews/Andrew McLean (ill.)
A Year on Our Farm. Scholastic Australia. In watercolor
illustrations and text, “ a year on our farm” (a small Australian farm) is
reviewed month by month, season by season in terms of activities and jobs
associated with that time of year. (Also shortlisted for Australia’s
Picture Book of the Year) (Information/ Realistic fiction)

A2 (2004) Margaret Wild/ Ann James (ill.) Little
Humpty. Little Hare. (US: Simply Read Books, 2004)
Big Humpty tires of constant play with Little Humpty, who asks inanimate objects
(rock, bush, pebbles) to play with him. Then Big Humpty takes him a long
way over the desert on the way to the Big Waterhole. Little Humpty, along
the way, guesses the kind of animals he will find at the end of the
journey. When he arrives, he finds many playmates. Illustrations
containing much orange and yellow project the heat of the desert. (Fantasy)

*C1 (2003) Susan Vande Griek/Pacal Milelli (ill.)
The ArtRoom. Groundwood.
(US: Groundwood, 2002) In blank verse and oil paintings, a tribute
is paid to painter Emily Carr, a gifted Canadian artist of the early 1900s.
(Verse/Information)

C1 (2004) Sir Cavendish Boyle (lyrics)/ Geoff Butler
(ill.) Ode to Newfoundland. Tundra. (US:
Tundra, 2003) (All ages) Butler’s love for Newfoundland is shown in the
illustrations accompanying the lyrics of the provincial anthem of Newfoundland
and of Labrador. The illustrations give readers a tour of parts of the
Province and include native plants and animals. An Afterword explains the
background of a number of the illustrations. (Verse/Information)

C1 (2004) Chieri Uegak/ Stephane Jorisch (ill.) Suki’s
Kimono. Kids Can Press. (US: Kids Can Press, 2003) (K-3)
Strong-willed Suki, despite protests of her two older sisters, insists on
wearing to school on the first day the blue kimono and clogs her
grandmother (obachan) had given her; her obachan had then taken her to a
street festival. Fellow first graders had snickered at first but then applauded
when she demonstrated a dance she had seen at the festival. After school, Suki’s
sisters complained that nobody had noticed their new clothes. Suki’s kimono, in
contrast, had made her the center of attention. Watercolor illustrations carry
out the Japanese theme. (Realistic fiction)

(PS-up) Sad-faced French bear Albert Le Blanc, newly arrived
in a toy store, gets the attention of the other toys. They put on a show to try
to make the toy bear smile. The accidental fall of one of the clumsy performers
not only makes the bear grin but makes him laugh out loud. (Fantasy)

G1 (2003) Anthony Browne. The Shape Game. Doubleday.
(US: FSG, 2003) (2-up) In text and illustrations, Browne tells of a family visit
to the Tate Gallery in London, a day he says changed his life. He presents
copies of selected Gallery paintings with his family viewing them, or
occasionally with the family being part of the paintings. His mother’s shape
game played on the way home from the Gallery is one he continues to play.
(Autobiography)

*N1 (2003) Allan Bagnall/Sarah Wilkins (ill.) The
Immigrants. Maillinson Rendel. After her mother’s death, Maria leaves Sydney
aboard a small ship to find her father in the New Zealand gold fields. The story
setting is 1858. Young Ihaia, a Maori crewmember, talked the captain into
letting Maria serve as ship’s cook to pay for her passage. Maria and Ihaia spend
much time together on the trip. On the weeklong crossing of the Tasman Sea, they
ran into a bad storm but were able to keep afloat. Colorful illustrations add
depth to the story. An epilogue reports that Maria and her friend Ihaia later
married and remained in New Zealand. Several Maori words are used in the text.
(Realistic fiction)

*N1 (2004) Lloyd Jones/Graeme Gash (ill.) Napoleon and the
Chicken Farmer. Mallinson Rendel. French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, on
summer vacation in Corsica, sponsors a Napoleon-look-alike contest. Chicken
farmer Manoli, longing to be something else, wins the contest, which was judged
by the Emperor himself. Manoli likes his new image so much that he won’t go back
to chicken-farming – until the chickens revolt! Appealing illustrations in
striking color accompany the text. (Fantasy)

*U1 (2004) Mordicai Gerstein. The Man Who Walked Between
the Towers. Roaring Brook Press (Millbrook). In lyrical prose and expressive
ink and oil paintings, Gerstein tells the true story of a young French
aerialist’s daring walk in 1974 between the two towers of New York’s World Trade
Center, more than a fourth of a century before their destruction on 9/11/01.
(Information/Biography)

U1 (2004) Steve Jenkins & Robin
Page. What Do You Do With a Tail Like This?
Houghton Mifflin. (PS-3) In cut-paper collage
pictures and text phrased as questions, readers are shown illustrations of
animal/bird/insect body parts (tails, eyes, mouths, noses, ears, and feet) and
are asked about their use. In all, 30 different animals/birds/insects from
around the world are shown. At the end further information is given about each
one. (Information)

Quality of Literature Titles

A3 (2003) Leonie Narrington. The
Barrumbi Kids. Scholastic Australia. Dale (white) and Tomias (Aborigine) are
best friends in and out of school and feel comfortable in both white and
Aborigine cultures. The story, set in Australian outback in a small, isolated
community, contains many references to animals and plants of the area as well as
to Aborigine customs and beliefs. (Realistic fiction/Fantasy)

A3 (2004) Graeme Base. TruckDogs:
A Novel in Four Bites. Viking Penguin. (US: Abrams, 2004) (3-7) In four
bites (chapters) and a nip (afterword), the author retells the story about the
TruckDogs, told to him by Molly, his dog. Part truck, part dogs, the TruckDogs
face bullies, rambunctious adolescent TruckDogs, and other part truck, part
animals. Illustrations depicting specific TruckDogs add to the humor. The
setting is modeled on the Australian outback. (Fantasy)

A4 (2003) Catherine Bateson.
Painted Love Letters. (University of Queensland Press) (US: International
Specialized Services, 2002). Chrissie’s Dad Dave, an artist, is dying of lung
cancer, and Chrissie, Mum, and Dave himself are facing the inevitable. Dave’s
life seems to be hanging on until a planned exhibition of his paintings takes
place. Nan, Mum’s mother, comes from Sydney to the Brisbane area to be with
them. Though the shadow of death hovers over the entire story, growing trust
among family members develops. (Realistic fiction)

A4 (2004) David Metzenthen. Boys
of Blood & Bone. Penguin Australia. (US: Penguin, 2004) This story
interweaves present-day Australians and a small group of young World War I
Aussie soldiers at Flanders. Henry, soon to be off to University, learns about
Andy, who was killed in World War I fighting, from Andy’s war diary kept by his
fiancé, now 101 years old. Actions described occurred in a small Australian town
and in Melbourne, France, Scotland, and England. The devastation and horrors of
trench warfare are described vividly. (Realistic fiction/Historical fiction)

*C2 (2003) Karen Levine: Hana’s
Suitcase. Second Story Press. (US: Whitman, 2003) (5-8) The suitcase of a
young Jewish girl, who died at Auschwitz, on display in a small Holocaust museum
in Japan, motivates the Director to trace the history of the suitcase’s owner.
Young readers will learn much about the tragic Holocaust from the interweaving
of historical fiction and information, supported by photographs.
(Information/Historical fiction)

C2 (2004) Dorothy Perkyns. Last
Days of Africville. Beach House Publishing. (US: Beach House Publishing,
2003) (4-7) Twelve-year-old Selina, an African Canadian living in the Halifax
area in the mid 1960s, is the main character in the story about relationships,
prejudice, and survival. As the only black student in her sixth grade class, she
faces prejudice from fellow students, but it is counteracted by her superior
academic performance and her athletic ability. Uncertainty arises for her
and her community when the city council plans to abolish Africville for other
construction. (Realistic fiction)

*C2 (2002) Sharon Creech. Ruby
Holler. Bloomsbury. (US: HarperCollins, 2002) (3-7) The 13-year-old
“trouble” twins, Dallas (a dreamer) and Florida (a rebel), have spent their
entire lives in a run-down orphanage, spelled briefly by stays in foster homes,
until foster parents quickly return them to the orphanage. Then Sairy and
Tiller, a country couple, take then to their isolated but peaceful Ruby Holler
home. Good cooking, understanding, and patience lead the twins to feel loved and
wanted. (Realistic fiction)

G2 (2003) Mark Haddon. The
Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. David Fickling. (US:
Doubleday, 2003) (7-up) Haddon, in this skillfully written novel, set in Swindon
and in London, takes readers into the narrowed world of 15-year-old autistic
Christopher, a genius in mathematics and in science. When falsely accused of
killing a neighbor’s dog, he sets out to find the real killer – and also learns
a family secret. The vivid descriptions (sad with touches of humor) of the
effects his condition has upon him, his parents, and those he meets will help
readers to understand autism better. (Realistic fiction)

N2 (2003) Margaret Mahy. Alchemy.
HarperCollins. (US: McElderry, 2003) (7-up) Seventeen-year-old Roland and
classmate Jess, a recluse who is ridiculed by her peers, are drawn together,
first by trickery and then by similar supernatural abilities, in this tale
involving blackmail, unbridled ambition of a politician/magician, and alchemy.
(Fantasy)

*N2 (2004) Ken Catran. Jacko
Moran Sniper. Lothian. In this sequel to Letters from the
Coffin-Trenches, shortlisted in 2003 for this same award, Jacko, a street
kid from a dysfunctional family, found his element in the army and became an
expert sniper and a World War I hero fighting in the trenches of Flanders. When
Jacko returned to civilian life after the war, he had very serious adjustment
problems. The story, set mostly on the terrible battlefields of Flanders, is
well written but is strong emotional fare.

U2 (2003) Stephanie S. Tolan.
Surviving the Applewhites. HarperCollins. (4-7) Teenage (13) spike-haired
Jake, kicked out of Rhode Island schools and foster homes, comes to North
Carolina to live with his grandfather. After Jake is expelled from his North
Carolina school, he is enrolled in a “home school” run by the disorganized
Applewhite family. Jake survives, thanks to attention from four-year-old Destiny
and the family dog plus a singing role in a community musical production.
(Realistic fiction)

U2 (2004) Jim Murphy. An American
Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793.
Clarion Books. A mysterious fever devastated Philadelphia, the Nation’s capital,
killing several thousand people and causing mass evacuations (including
President Washington and other government leaders). Medical doctors and others
debated causes and treatments. This book is a scholarly, documented look back at
an important part of United States history. (Information/History)

The
154 Winners/Contenders for 2003/2004

Listed below are references for the 154 winning and contending titles for the
past two years (2003/2004) in the 12 award categories. For non-U.S. titles
available in the United States, the U.S. publishers or distributors and dates of
publication are included. When interest levels were available, that information
is presented in terms of grade levels. An asterisk (*) to the left of an entry
signifies that the book is a winner. All other books are contenders (shortlisted
titles or honor books).

4 Jim Murphy. An American Plague: The True and
Terrifying Story of the Yellow

Fever Epidemic of 1793.Clarion. (5-9)

*Avi. The Cross of Lead. Hyperion.
(4-7)

2 Nancy Farmer. The House of the Scorpion. Atheneum.
(7-12)

0 Patricia Reilly Giff. Pictures of Hollis Woods.
Random House. (4-7)

0 Carl Hiaasen. Hoot. Knopf. (4-7)

3 Ann M. Martin. A Corner of the Universe. Scholastic.
(4-7)

Stephanie S. Tolan. Surviving the
Applewhites. HarperCollins. (4-7)

In Summary

This report focused mainly on people and places in recent (2003/2004) winners of
and contenders for the top children’s book awards in five mainly English
speaking countries: Australia, Canada, Great Britain, New Zealand, and the
United States. The 154 children’s books that formed the basis for this report
are among the very best books published during the period of the study. It is
hoped that this review will aid teachers, librarians, teachers of teachers, and
others in the selection of books to use in their work with children and with
college students preparing to be teachers. Children who read these books
will strengthen their understanding that people, regardless of where they live,
are much more alike than they are different.